


ogygia

by tigermochaeyu



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Angst, Calypso Au, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 14:52:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14956730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigermochaeyu/pseuds/tigermochaeyu
Summary: It is a dreaded life, to be thrown carelessly onto an island for the rest of your immortal days.





	ogygia

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday to me!! here's my birthday present to you all <3
> 
> follow me on twitter @ tigermochaeyu!

It is a dreaded life, to be thrown carelessly onto an island for the rest of your immortal days. Even worse to be cursed; cursed to care for all those who wash upon your shore. Cursed to heal them, to nourish them and bring them back to proper health. Cursed to feel your heart beat wildly in your chest for every single person you meet, to give your all to them, only to watch them leave. They always leave, and yet, you always fall.

So is the tragic life of Hirai Momo, daughter of the Titans, cursed to the uncharted, near impossible to find island of Ogygia.

She has tried before, countless times in her unnaturally long life, to not fall for those who wash upon her shores. To seduce the men that wake up on her sandy beaches, to break the curse by absolutely any means necessary, but it was truly no use. The moment her eyes met theirs, she would fall. And the moment she would fall, the boat would appear to take them away.

She is unsure of the number of men she has fallen for. A tragic life, to fall for someone you know nothing of. Some of them she never learned their names, others she can barely remember their faces. But the way her heart swelled in the confines of her ribs, only to be ripped out of her chest as they take the enchanted boat away from the island; that is something she can never forget, no matter how much she wishes to.

A cruel fate for a war she wanted no part in.

So she waits, in her home on the cliffs, for another. Waits for the curse to take its place once more, for what feels like centuries. For all she know, it could have been. Time never seems to pass on the island. The sun will rise and set, but she will never age. Those who wash up on her shores never age. She is forever trapped in a hole in time, an endless gap between the past and the future.

Momo witnesses it from her perch, the new soul being carried to shore by the calm tides on a piece of driftwood. Possibly debris from a newly sunken ship, she couldn’t be sure. Nevertheless, she hastily makes her way down the cliffs, making her way to the warm sands and into the water, wading at knees length as she reaches out for her new companion, however long that companionship may last.

She pulls them to the shore, wondering how a man can be so short yet still be considered a man and not a boy, and carefully turns them over to be sure that they are breathing and-

Momo cannot believe her eyes.

In the hundreds of years that she has been cursed to this island, she has always encountered men. Tall, short, rugged, handsome; Momo swears that she has met just about every kind of man that she could ever find on this shore. 

But never in all of her years has she encountered a woman. 

She is honestly quite surprised that she even knows this new woman _is_ a woman, for it has been much too long since she last saw one. She wonders if the curse will still take effect, considering that she has never fallen for a woman before.

She allows her eyes to wander before the woman beneath her wakes up. The curse will not take effect until their eyes meet, so she can let herself enjoy this brief moment of peace before it all comes crumbling down once again. The woman is beautiful, if Momo says so herself. Dark brown tresses splay across the warm sands, lips full and almost naturally pouted, button nose. A distinct mole rests beneath her bottom lip, and Momo eyes it curiously-

A loud cough comes from the girl beneath her as she leans to the side, her lungs doing their best to remove the water from within them as she coughs violently. Momo averts her eyes quickly, praying that she can delay the inevitability of her fall for this woman for the sake of companionship. But what if building a bond with this woman causes her to lose her breath? What if just the mere brush of skin causes her heart to beat out of her chest?

“You saved me,” the girl speaks, voice still hoarse from coughing yet soft and lovely nonetheless. Momo keeps her eyes trained to the sand, wondering how long it would take her to count the individual grains instead of looking this woman in the eyes.

“It was nothing,” Momo mutters, rising to her feet and walking back towards her home on the cliffs. There is a beat of silence, where the only sounds are the waves in the water and the wind blowing through the trees, before a scuffle of sand comes followed by a brief ‘wait!’ resounding from behind her. Fortunately, her new companion keeps quiet for a good portion of their walk, and Momo allows herself to relax slightly.

“What is this place?” The woman asks softly, her eyes roaming the landscape curiously as the ascend the hill towards Momo’s home. She sighs, running a hand through her black locks to tame them after the winds, muttering quietly, “This is my island. Welcome to Ogygia.”

They reach the top of the hill rather effortlessly, the view of the island from Momo’s home stunning the woman with an audible gasp. The waves could be heard crashing against the cliffside, as well as the birds that fly over the bay and the ocean. The woman stares on in awe at the tall trees and forests that litter her island, Momo’s garden just visible over the crest of the hill to the west, and the various fauna that can be seen within the wood.

Momo catches herself staring at the woman as she admires the land, wondering how someone that had just washed up from the ocean could still look so effortlessly beautiful-

She shakes her head quickly of these thoughts, training her eyes on the beautiful blues of the ocean instead.

“It’s beautiful here,” the woman breathes out, the genuine tone of her voice throwing Momo off balance. Most who come here only want to find a way off, or dwell on the mere idea that they’re trapped here instead of admiring the island. Yet here is this woman, basking in everything Ogygia has to offer, and enjoying it rather than trying to find a way off of it.

Momo’s heart pounds a bit harder in her chest.

“It is,” Momo breathes out, focusing on the bay and trying to avoid staring at the woman. She inhales deeply, a heaviness in the air pulling her out of her thoughts and back to her current reality. “A storm is coming in, I need to prepare.”

“Let me help,” the woman turns to her, and Momo looks away as fast as possible. “Please. You saved me and I want to repay you.”

Momo sighs through her nose, eyes falling shut as she debates her options. She could not possible leave this woman out in the rain, no matter how scared and worried she is about her own curse. And the benefit of two sets of hands would mean more harvest and a much quicker preparation time.

“Alright. Come with me.”

She can see how the woman smiles in her peripherals, all teeth and as bright as the sun, and nearly regrets her decision in that very moment. The woman follows her to the west toward her garden, and Momo is thankful for the company despite the circumstance.

“By the way,” the woman says softly, as though not to startle Momo, “my name is Chaeyoung.”

Momo cannot help the smile that creeps onto her face, fights it down as best as possible yet the corners of her lips still upturn all the same. She can see Chaeyoung looking at her in the corner of her eye, her smile soft at Momo’s own.

“My name is Momo. Thank you for helping me.” 

-

Weeks pass with ease, yet the anxiety in Momo’s chest on seems to grow with each passing minute.

The blatant fear of looking into Chaeyoung’s eyes makes her cold and standoffish, and it is easy to feel the hurt radiate off of the woman in some moments. Though she learns much about her; how the woman had set off on a boat with plundering pirates to earn money to help her family. Her mother had died when she was young, and she had lived with only her father her whole life. She has friends, good natured yet teasing as Chaeyoung described, and Momo finds herself warming at each piece of information she learns.

She also feels the guilt spread through her body with each new detail she learns. Despite the fact that no time passes on this island, she feels as though she is holding Chaeyoung back from her life. She could let Chaeyoung go home in an instant, just one look in her eyes and the boat sent by the gods would come to whisk her away.

But Momo is selfish, and enjoys Chaeyoung’s company despite not very well showing it.

Chaeyoung has integrated into her life quite well, helping with the garden and helping to gather wood for fire and cooking. The shorter woman has the hunting skills that Momo does not, and is able to provide them both with meat; a meal Momo has not had in a long time. The two work together quite well despite their difference in attitude, but Momo can sense that Chaeyoung is getting restless with their current arrangement.

Momo is not sure if it is that she wants to leave, or if it is her attitude towards her, but Chaeyoung begins to press more. Asking Momo more questions, each one harder to answer or lie around than the last. Her family, her past, how she had ended up on this island alone; all questions she would rather not answer.

But it is not until the first weeks pass, when Momo is in her home washing their dirtied clothes from tending to the garden, that Chaeyoung asks the hardest question of all.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

Momo’s heart stops at the question.

She sets the shirt she had been cleaning back into the sink weakly, breath expelling from her lungs with a shudder. She turns around, eyes trained on the floor of her home but body faced towards Chaeyoung, wondering how on earth she can answer this question without spilling her truths. She hears Chaeyoung shuffle closer, can see her feet in her field of vision now, and closes her eyes once more.

“Momo I.. I don’t know if I’ve done something to upset you, but I would just like to know why,” she speaks softly, closer than before. Close enough that Momo can feel the last traces of her breath on her skin. “I will accept any answer you give, just please.. _please_ tell me.”

Momo feels her heart crack in her chest, the idea that Chaeyoung thinks she’s upset with her is enough to shake her to her core. But she cannot look up, all will be ruined if she looks up.

“Momo,” Chaeyoung breathes out again. Momo can feel the tears brimming her eyes.

“I can’t,” she whispers out.

The air stills between them, and Momo’s afraid that she has only made it worse.

“That’s not even an answer, barely a pathetic excuse.” She has. “You saved my life and then act as though I am a plague upon you. I’ve tried to understand, Momo, but it has been _weeks_ and I cannot seem to find a single thing that I have done to wrong you-“

“You haven’t wronged me in any way,” Momo breathes out, feeling her shoulders tense from the unshed tears she is doing her best to hold back. “You’ve done nothing wrong at all, I swear.”

“Then _look at me_ ,” Chaeyoung begs, anger in her voice yet words dripping with sadness.

Momo wonders if she was ever able to defy her curse, and decides a few weeks with Chaeyoung were worth the pain she is about to feel.

So she looks up and opens her eyes, meeting the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes she’s ever had the pleasure of seeing in her entire timeless life.

She feels it the moment their eyes meet, how her heart constricts at the mere sight of Chaeyoung’s eyes. How the blood rushes through her veins. How she feels elated yet absolutely crushed at the same time.

How she feels absolutely in love.

A brief thud resounds from outside of Momo’s home, the telltale sign of the hollow boat bumping against the cliffside now that she has fallen in love. And Momo feels the anger return in her chest; her anger towards the gods for cursing her like this, her anger at herself for giving in so easily. She almost feels angry at Chaeyoung, but she knows this is not her fault. She could have never known.

“There,” Momo says flatly, despite the warm tear rolling down her cheek. “I’ve looked at you, now you’re free to go home.”

Chaeyoung’s awe is replaced with confusion. “I don’t-“

“A boat has just washed up onto shore,” Momo cuts her off. “It will take you home. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a garden to tend to.” With that, Momo pushes past Chaeyoung as lightly as possible, not wanting to make the woman think she is upset with her. Just those who put her here and left her with this terrible curse.

She exits her home and shuts the door gently, walks to the west towards her garden. She listens intently, but never hears her door open nor close again. She shakes her head, curses herself for believing she could have a normal friendship for once in her gods forsaken life, letting the tears run down her cheeks as she falls to her knees in the dirt. Her vision clouds as she picks her harvest, as she plants more, but cannot find it in herself to care.

A life like this is barely worth living, yet it is all she will ever know.

She spends hours under the beating rays of the sun, can feel her body growing weak but persists in her work. The last thing she wants is to go back to her home, to see the space she has shared for weeks empty once more.

In her effort to keep herself busy, she fails to notice her own body giving way to the fatigue coursing through her veins. Fails to notice the dark clouds on the horizon, the damp taste of the air. She moves to stand with a basket full of grains and vegetables, but the weight is too much for her body in its current state. She falls as white light cracks across the sky, her vision blackening at the edges as the rain begins to fall on her skin.

Her last thought is of Chaeyoung, praying to the gods that she will make it home safely despite the storm.

-

When she awakens, she is confused as to why her roof is over her head, why she is wrapped in blankets, why the fire is roaring in the hearth.

She tries to sit upright to obtain a better look around her, wondering if it is merely a dream or if the gods rescued her to see her suffer more, but her body is too weak for the effort. Groaning, she lays back down against her bed with eyes shut, and hears a scuffle of a chair from beside her.

“You absolute idiot.”

Momo’s eyes fly back open.

‘No,’ she thinks to herself, ‘it cannot possibly be-‘

A figure stands in front of the fire, blocking the light from her eyes, and when she looks up she sees her.

_Chaeyoung._

“You could have died out there,” Chaeyoung scolds her, pulling a chair beside Momo’s bed with her leg. It is not until she sits down that Momo notices the bowl in her hands, its contents steaming slightly into the cold air. The rain is still pattering outside the open window, but all Momo can focus on is the way Chaeyoung brings the bowl closer to her, blowing on the spoon to cool the what looks like soup before pressing it closer to Momo’s mouth.

“Eat,” she commands softly, and Momo cannot help but obey, opening her mouth to allow Chaeyoung to feed her. The taste is delicious and fresh, Momo humming at the way it fills her insides with warmth, but the warmth Chaeyoung’s smile fills her with cannot be beaten.

“Come, I’ll help you sit by the fire,” Chaeyoung speaks again when the bowl is emptied and Momo’s stomach is full. She goes to take Momo’s hand but a panic sparks within Momo, pulling her hand away from Chaeyoung before she can touch her.

“I can handle myself,” Momo says quietly, tries to conceal how her muscles shake as she sits up and makes her way across her home with her blanket still wrapped around her. Chaeyoung stays by her bedside for a brief moment, a sigh escaping her lips, before she moves to join Momo by the hearth.

There is a brief period of silence, Momo’s eyes trained onto the fire instead of anything else, watching the licks of flames appear and disappear and listening to the crackling of the wood. She does not want to speak, but it seems that Chaeyoung would rather not either.

Momo is the first to break the silence.

“You should have left,” she says, her voice so small and broken she barely even recognizes it herself. She can feel Chaeyoung’s eyes on her, but she refuses to look away from the fire.

“And leave you out there to die? I don’t think so,” Chaeyoung scoffs. Momo cannot tell if she admires or despises the shorter woman’s sarcasm and stubbornness.

“I told you there was a boat, I told you to leave, I can handle myself,” Momo tries again, but Chaeyoung is having none of it.

“There hasn’t been a boat the entire time I’ve been here, so either you’ve lied to me and kept me here against my will or there’s something you’re not telling me,” Chaeyoung says sternly, and Momo sighs because she is right. And Momo is so tired of lying, of keeping this burden to herself.

“What do you want to know?” Momo says more than she asks, the words coming out of her mouth in an exhale of breath.

“The truth,” Chaeyoung demands, though her voice is soft, filled with worry. It makes Momo’s heart thrum in her chest. At least Chaeyoung feels worthy of Momo’s love, despite not being able to give it freely.

“I have been.. trapped here for lifetimes,” Momo begins with a sigh, running her fingers through her short black locks. “Trapped in a place where time does not exist, away from the rest of the world, all for a war I wanted no part in.”

She allows her eyes to flicker towards Chaeyoung’s, noting how her brows are furrowed together in confusion, and looks down as she continues. “I am unsure how long it has been, or if mortals still worship them or not, but the gods cursed me here. I had foolishly supported my father in a long war between the gods and the titans, and for my treacherous actions I was banished here.”

Chaeyoung’s eyes widen. “So you’re.. a goddess?”

“I am nothing but an animal in a cage to the gods,” Momo grumbles. “The daughter of a titan, yes, but nothing close to a goddess.”

“What did you mean by ‘time does not exist’?” Chaeyoung asks softly.

“This island does not truly exist, so time does not exist here either,” Momo explains quietly. “When you leave, it will be as though time has not passed in the outside world. You will return to your father and your friends just as you had left them.”

Chaeyoung is silent for the slightest of moments before asking, “How long have you been trapped here?”

Momo laughs despite the pure sadness of the truth. “Hundreds of years, I presume. I can never quite be sure.”

A brief silence, then the scraping of Chaeyoung’s chair as she scoots closer to Momo. The taller woman can feel herself tense when she stops right beside her, reaches out to touch her but Momo pulls away again.

“Please, Momo,” Chaeyoung begs, voice nearly a whisper, and Momo cannot help but let her. It is not her fault that she is cursed to fall in love with her (a detail she blatantly left out), and she needs to stop taking out her anger over her misfortunes on this woman who only wishes to care about her.

So she allows Chaeyoung to place a hand in her own, reveling in the way the skin seems to burn and how her heart soars at the touch. She allows herself to melt into it, relaxing for the first time in weeks in the shorter woman’s presence.

“I’m.. not quite sure if there’s anything that I could do to ease the pain in your heart,” Chaeyoung begins, her thumb trailing across Momo’s knuckles with ease, “but I want you to know I’m here. That I’ll be your companion for as long as you desire, so that you don’t have to face the world alone.”

“Chaeyoung.. the last thing I want is for you to stay here,” Momo says honestly, despite how much it hurts and how Chaeyoung’s face falls. “I don’t want to keep you from your family, your friends, your _life_. It would be incredibly selfish of me to do that to you.”

Chaeyoung perks up when she realizes that Momo was not inherently denying her offer, smirking slightly in a way that causes Momo’s cheeks to flare with a blush. “You said time does not pass here, so in reality you would not be keeping me from anything.”

Momo tries to open her mouth, to fight Chaeyoung’s words because she does not want this beautiful woman, both inside and out, to put her life on hold for someone such as her. But Chaeyoung presses a finger to her lips, and Momo is stunned into silence.

“I want to stay here with you, Momo,” Chaeyoung says earnestly, voice filled with a conviction that Momo could not fight even if she had tried. So she nods, a small smile making its way onto her lips as she looks back into Chaeyoung’s eyes, and for once does not fear what they will bring her.

-

Months pass and Momo’s affection for the shorter woman only grows.

Chaeyoung teaches her all about the outside world and how it has changed since she has been cast away on this island, and in turn Momo teaches her all she knows about the gods, agriculture, and the land on her island. 

But as time continues to pass, Momo’s heart only grows fonder with each passing moment. Every glance from the shorter woman causes Momo’s pulse to spike. Every smile causes her cheeks to warm. Every laugh causes her knees to buckle. Every cry causes her heart to shatter. 

(Not often does Chaeyoung cry, but the soft whimper she lets out in a failed attempt to hide her emotions causes Momo to want to burst into tears as well. So she holds her as best as she can with her heart pounding out of her chest, whispers words to her that she only hopes she can bring truth to.

The one time she had cried out of homesickness, Momo reminded her of the boat. Stubbornly, Chaeyoung shook her head, saying that her life would be waiting for her when she decides to leave, while Momo’s only life is on this island. That she could handle the pain of being away if it meant giving Momo a friend, if only for a small amount of time.

Momo swore that her heart had burst out of her chest that night.)

Each day brings more worry to her heart. The more she allows herself to grow fond of Chaeyoung, the closer she allows them to become, the more damage she threatens to bring upon herself when Chaeyoung decides that she must go home. A part of Momo wonders why she is keeping Chaeyoung at an arm's length, when only the gods know how long she will stay and how long Momo will have with her. But the part of her that is so used to being left behind knows why she is keeping her distance.

She fears the hurt that will come, and prays that she can reduce the pain if she reduces their opportunities for closeness.

But Chaeyoung’s arms feel like a home she has never known, a shield she has needed for years, and a love she only wishes she could obtain.

So she continues to push away. Each time Chaeyoung grows closer and she only pushes away.

(She ignores the hurt flash in Chaeyoung’s eyes each time she does.)

In her haste to keep herself safe from the future hurt, she fails to notice how her actions are hurting her present situation. Fails to notice the way Chaeyoung tenses each time Momo pulls from her touch too quickly. Fails to notice how her actions affect the shorter woman as well.

It is not until it is seemingly too late that she finally realizes.

“Momo!” Chaeyoung calls out to her from behind her. Momo stands with bare feet in the shallow of the water along the beach, watching the waves roll in more aggressively with the storm on the horizon. She can feel Chaeyoung stand beside her, can feel her body try to tense and relax at the same time from her mere presence. “Are you okay?”

“A storm is rolling in,” Momo comments flatly, motions with her hand to the dark clouds nearing the island. “We should start preparing.”

She moves to turn, to walk towards the garden and harvest what they will need until the storm passes, but Chaeyoung catches her wrist before she can make her exit. She sighs quietly, trying to keep her distance from the girl, but her nerves beneath Chaeyoung’s hand feel as though they have been set ablaze and her heart will not let her leave the embrace.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Chaeyoung asks outright and simple. Has always been more for the direct approach unlike Momo. The titan feels her spine shiver at the tiredness of Chaeyoung’s words, as though she has been aware of Momo’s intentions the entire time. “You let me in, let me stay to try and befriend you, and then you.. you push me out every time I try to.”

Momo closes her eyes, cannot for the life of her bear to see the hurt in Chaeyoung’s eyes should she look. Chaeyoung’s hand lets go of her wrist, and she immediately misses the warmth. “Why won’t you let me in?”

The sheer vulnerability of Chaeyoung’s voice as she speaks wracks through Momo’s chest, can feel her walls shatter from a simple sentence. She sighs, audibly this time, and brings her hands to her face. Hopefully to hide her shame.

“It hurts,” Momo says plainly. “It hurts so much.”

“What?” Chaeyoung asks, alarm evident in her tone. “You’re hurt? Where? Are you okay?”

Momo groans (curse Chaeyoung and her golden heart) as she makes her way down the shoreline, can hear Chaeyoung footsteps in the water behind her as she follows, and sits meekly onto a large boulder sitting above the surface of the water that climbs onto the beach. The shorter woman kneels down beside her, hands atop Momo’s thighs as she stares up at her with eyes as golden as the sun.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, so gently and tenderly that Momo fears she must know how fragile she is.

“What’s wrong?” Momo asks again rhetorically, her tone filled with sarcasm. “What is wrong is this gods forsaken curse!” The waves seem to respond to her emotions, crashing up onto the shore just a bit harsher as the first tear falls from her eyes. Her grip on the stone beneath her is so tight she fears she could crush it beneath her fingertips, and she is using every ounce of her being to stay in control of her own emotions.

Yet Chaeyoung’s support never wavers, and her eyes stay trained on Momo instead of the impending storm; both from beyond the bay and within the titan herself. It almost frustrates Momo how patient she is.

“I’ve told you already, Momo. I’m here, I’m staying with you, curse be damned,” Chaeyoung’s voice is so gentle, so kind, that the bitter laugh Momo lets loose at her words seems so out of place.

“No one ever stays. None of them have ever stayed,” Momo chuckles darkly, mouth heavy with emotion as she allows her tight grip on the truth to loosen, as she allows herself to be honest.

“Them?” Chaeyoung asks, head tilting to the side. Like a confused animal. Momo would chuckle at how adorable she looks if she was trying her best to not sob in front of her. “What do you mean ‘them’?”

Momo shuts her eyes tightly and sighs, the waves placating for a moment with her. “You’re not the first to have washed up on my shores.”

Momo can feel Chaeyoung’s grip on her thighs loosen, the only sign of her surprise that Momo can detect due to her shut eyes. The second sign comes in her shaking voice as she asks, “W-What do you mean?”

“Being banished was a mere second thought to the gods,” Momo huffs dejectedly. “My real curse comes from the sea. Comes in the form of heroic men who have gone to corners of the world that I could only imagine, with tales of valor that I could only hope to envy. My real curse comes from watching them try to find a way off of the island, a way back to their quests for glory. My real curse comes from when the boat comes, comes to take them away from me, every time..”

Momo trails off in a hushed whisper, her heart not able to make her say the words she needs to say. To say the truth. Yet Chaeyoung merely tightens her grip on her thighs, a small sign of support, and Momo allows herself to revel in the feeling of her touch just one last time before she leaves forever.

“Every time what?” Chaeyoung asks, her voice quiet and small, and somewhere within her finds the courage to open her eyes. To allow Chaeyoung to see the absolute truth that shines in them.

“Every time I fall in love.”

There’s a sharp gasp that leaves Chaeyoung’s lips, and the wind seems to respond in kind, gusting around them ever so slightly. Momo holds their eye contact for a moment longer, before sighing and letting her eyes drop to the sand between them.

“I.. had held onto this minor hope that maybe this would be different. That because you are also a woman, that the curse would not take place. That I could, for once, have a companion that I could just enjoy the presence of without worrying how fast my heart will beat when I look at you.” Momo sniffles, feels another tear fall from her eyes. “But I had been wrong, and the moment that I looked into your eyes was the moment that I fell for you. Harder than I had for anyone else.”

Chaeyoung says nothing, but her breathing betrays her true emotions. How panicked and disgusted she must be, that Momo had been in love with her, a woman, all this time. Momo has never hated this curse more than she has in this exact moment.

“But I was wrong,” she sniffles again, uses the back of her hand to wipe at the tears staining her cheeks. “I was foolish to think that the gods would show me mercy. To think that things would be different this time.” Her vision is blurred by tears as she stares at the sand so she lets her eyes flutter shut, feeling the warm tears escape her eyes and down her cheeks. “To think that-“

Her words are muffled by a soft pair of lips pressed against her own, stealing the very breath from her lungs as the press so delicately, as though the titan was made of the most fragile materials. For a moment, she is stunned still, but her body gathers the courage to respond before she can overthink her own actions, lips moving gently against Chaeyoung’s own as she releases a soft sigh.

Chaeyoung’s grip on her thigh tightens, while one hand moves to grasp at the back of Momo’s neck. The titan’s own hands find their way to Chaeyoung’s waist, pulling her to her feet as Momo stands to her own as well. The shorter woman pulls her closer, their lips moving more desperately as more of their bodies become flush against one another, the waves crashing against their legs as though mimicking the way Momo’s heart pounds in her chest.

The kiss ends as softly as it began, and when Momo opens her eyes to look down at the shorter woman, her eyes are filled with tears of awe rather than sadness. Chaeyoung’s hands slip to Momo’s shoulders as she seems to wither under her gaze, cheeks staining red as her eyes flutter between the titan’s and the sand beneath their toes.

“Why.. why are you looking at me like that?” She asks, voice small and insecure, and Momo wants to laugh because Chaeyoung has absolutely no reason to be afraid. But she cannot laugh, can only stare in amazement as she shakes her head ever so slightly.

“No one has ever loved me back,” she whispers, another warm tear rolling down her cheek.

Chaeyoung understands, eyes locking with the titan’s and no longer wavering in fear. She smiles, a smile that could bring sunshine into any storm, as the hands that were once on her shoulders move to cup her face, to wipe the tears as they trail down her cheeks.

“Well I do,” she says so simply that it makes Momo’s heart jolt in her chest. She marks her words with another kiss to Momo’s lips, one that is amplified by the thunder that roars above them. Momo jumps in surprise, and Chaeyoung cannot help but laugh against her lips.

“Come,” she says as she steps back, grabbing onto Momo’s hand to pull her along. “We have a storm to prepare for.” Momo smiles, the first time she has truly smiled since Chaeyoung’s arrival, and allows herself to be pulled along by the shorter woman. She would let her take her to the ends of the earth if she so desired.

-

It is an odd feeling for Momo, to allow herself to feel the love she has grown to hate and fear over the hundreds of years that she has been imprisoned here.

Even stranger is waking up besides someone that feels that same love but for her.

“How did you sleep?” Chaeyoung asks as she draws small circles against the skin of her arm. Momo melts at her touch, at the softness of the gesture, at everything that is Chaeyoung wrapped up in her arms. She hums, hearing the rain patter against the roof of her home as she snuggles closer to the shorter woman’s chest.

“Better than I have in years,” Momo speaks honestly, can feel Chaeyoung smile against the crown of her head before placing a kiss to her hair as she hugs her tighter.

“Good,” she hums, and it is really all that needs to be said.

-

Months pass. Momo can only fall deeper for Chaeyoung with each passing moment. With each smile directed at her, with each kiss placed against her lips, with each song that Chaeyoung hums into the night air.

Chaeyoung seems fond of singing, and Momo is incredibly fond of her voice, so she will merely smile up at the woman who has her entire heart in the palm of her hands and listen to the melody that emits from her lips.

Momo believes Chaeyoung could rival any Siren’s song, and even then Momo believes her voice would be worth dying for if it were the last thing she would ever hear.

-

It is a panic like none she has ever felt when Momo wanders to the beach to see Chaeyoung wading in the shallows with the boat that would take her away forever.

“Chaeyoung!” She calls out, trying and failing to hide the desperation that crawls up her throat. Chaeyoung turns, brown hair nearly golden in the midday sun and smile just as bright, before giggling loudly at the expression on the titan’s face. “What are you doing!”

“I’ve gotten quite tired of the way this boat knocks against the cliffside all day and all night,” Chaeyoung explains as she drags the boat to shore, tipping it over until it falls upside down into the warm sand. “It isn’t like I’m using it anytime soon, so I decided that pulling it onto shore was the best choice.”

The relief that floods through Momo’s body is almost comical, and she finds herself crossing the beach in a few long strides until her hands are cupping Chaeyoung’s cheeks and she is kissing her soundly on the lips.

“I was afraid that..” Momo trails off, forehead pressed against Chaeyoung’s and eyes closed to avoid seeing the look on the shorter woman’s face after her confession.

“That I would leave?” Chaeyoung asks softly, voice filled with genuine curiosity and lacking any sort of malice. Momo nods against her forehead, her eyes remaining shut until Chaeyoung’s laughter reaches her ears. She opens them to reveal Chaeyoung smiling as bright as ever, thumb tracing Momo’s cheekbone with such tender affection that Momo’s heart leaps in her chest.

“I said I would stay, and I would never abandon you behind your back like so,” Chaeyoung answers softly as she stares into Momo’s wavering eyes. “Plus, who else would kiss me like that If not you?”

“Oh quiet yourself, you romantic,” Momo shoves her shoulder lightly, earning a vibrant laugh from the woman she loves.

-

“What is it like?” Chaeyoung’s voice pulls her from her thoughts, the shorter woman laid between her legs with her head resting on her stomach. Momo looks down at her, her wide eyes staring at her with such wonder and curiosity that Momo cannot help but feel like a masterpiece in them.

“What is what like?” Momo asks, bringing a spare hand to run through Chaeyoung’s long locks. She smiles to herself as she watches Chaeyoung melt against her and lean into her touch, eyes fluttering shut in content. A year has passed and Chaeyoung still has the same reactions to the same affections, and it causes Momo’s heart to swell with happiness.

“To go so long without the common affection of another?” Chaeyoung’s eyes flutter open as she asks. Momo releases a long breath, weighing the words she wants to speak against the words that would cause Chaeyoung to worry less. She knows any dishonesty will be spotted by the shorter woman immediately, so she trains her eyes towards the roof of her home as she answers.

“It is.. dehumanizing, in a sense,” Momo explains softly. “It was as though I was less of a woman and more of a feral beast at times. The slightest touch burned my skin like a wildfire, a warmth I knew I needed but would not let myself have out of fear.” The rain outside of the warmth of her home- of _their_ home- lulls her into a sense of security as she continues. “Humans need companionship and love to survive, and while I am only half human, I still craved those basic desires. And yet if I had them, they would only bring me suffering in the end.”

Chaeyoung hums against her stomach, her body shifting until she appears in Momo’s line of sight. Her brown hair cascades down her shoulders, tickling Momo’s face slightly, but the titan could not care less. An angel hovers above her, and by the gods is she _beautiful._

“I am so sorry,” are Chaeyoung’s first words. Then, “You should have never had to suffer this fate.”

“It is the price I must pay for blindly supporting my father in war long lost in time,” Momo shrugs slightly. She brings her hand up to cup Chaeyoung’s cheek, “But I am beyond happy that you are the one I get to love freely. That you are the one that returns my love with earnest.”

Chaeyoung smiles so softly down at her that Momo’s heart clenches in her chest, pounding against her ribs as the shorter woman leans down to connect their lips slowly, gently, lovingly. A fire like none other courses through Momo’s veins as Chaeyoung deepens their kiss, an eagerness she has never known overtaking their kisses.

Chaeyoung’s lips trace down her neck, teeth grazing against the skin lightly in a way that causes Momo’s breath to stutter, her hands to grasp at any part of Chaeyoung she can reach as she allows these pleasurable waves to carry her wherever they may.

“Chaeyoung-“

“Shh,” Chaeyoung hushes her against the skin of her neck, Momo heeding the barely there command immediately. “You have spent so much of your life giving your heart to those who will not give their own.” Chaeyoung’s kisses press against her collarbones, a whimper passing through Momo’s lips as her tongue traces the contours. “So much of your life has been spent without love.” A kiss to the base of her throat, to her jawline, until Chaeyoung is leaning above her once more.

“For once, let me give you my heart. Let me bathe you in my love without worrying about returning it,” Chaeyoung speaks with such conviction that Momo does not believe she could deny her even if she had tried. But there is not a single part of her that wants to deny her, so she bobs her head in a nod before Chaeyoung captures her lips once more.

-

“Are.. are you sure this must be done?” Momo hates the way her voice trembles.

“Momo, I.. _we_ cannot continue to merely exist in a pocket of frozen time,” Chaeyoung speaks softly, her toes wiggling in the sand. A nervous habit she had acquired up over the years on this island. “I love you with every ounce of my being, with every piece of my heart, but.. I miss my family. I miss my friends.”

Momo nods slowly, knowing what it is like to miss those close to you. But that does nothing to stop the slow, hot tears that fall from her eyes and roll down her cheeks. Chaeyoung does, however, catching them with her thumbs as she holds Momo’s face in her palms as though she is the most treasured item in existence.

Momo barely notices the shorter woman crying as well.

“I want to have a life with you, Momo,” Chaeyoung explains with a strained voice. “I want you to meet my family, my friends. I want to be yours until we have both long passed from this world. I cannot have that on a desert island where time does not exist.”

And the most painful part is that Momo _understands._ Because she too wants to live her life with Chaeyoung, a life that cannot be lived where they do not age and where time does not pass. So she nods, letting her forehead fall against Chaeyoung’s as they both cry in each other’s embrace.

“I will find you,” Chaeyoung speaks through her tears, the same conviction Momo has fallen in love with filling her voice. “I will come back to you.”

And while Momo knows it is near impossible to come back, as Ogygia does not truly exist, she nods. She knows that Chaeyoung can be stubborn, so she allows herself to hope that the shorter woman will find her way back into her arms.

So Momo kisses her with everything she can muster; happiness, sadness, laughter, pain, love. She pours the entirety of her heart into Chaeyoung, something she has never allowed herself to do before with anyone who had washed up onto her shore, and sighs brokenly as Chaeyoung does the same. They grasp at each other with a sense of urgency, a desperation to hold onto this feeling until they meet again, and Momo can taste the salt from their tears.

It is not until Momo is standing with her feet at the edge of the water, watching Chaeyoung’s figure retreat on the boat sent by the gods, that she allows herself to feel the pain in her chest. Allows herself to wail to the evening sun as tears overtake her vision and she cannot keep herself on her feet, falling to her knees as the loss of her love hits her more painfully than it ever has before.

-

Momo nearly throws her bed into the ocean, the scent of Chaeyoung too much to bear for her fragile heart.

-

Momo marks a scratch into the wall outside of her home with a rock every day that Chaeyoung is away, in a broken belief that the shorter woman will return to her someday.

She sighs as she makes her one hundred and fourth mark.

-

Two hundred days without Chaeyoung brings a powerful storm to Momo’s shores.

Two hundred days for Momo to lose her mind.

“Finish it you cowards!” Momo shouts to the crackling sky, the thunder rolling as though answering her cries. “Send me another, strike me down, _anything!_ Anything to take this pain away!”

Lightning flashes across the sky, but nothing happens, and Momo sinks to her knees in the sand. Sobs rip through her chest, hot tears pouring down her face in contrast to the cold rain pounding on her back, and she allows herself a few moments to let her emotions run free under the dark sky. Pitifully she rises to her feet, making her way back towards her home.

Chaeyoung would have her head if she found out that she had gotten sick from crying in the rain.

-

A year passes with no sign of Chaeyoung. With no sign of anyone.

It seems the gods must know how much pain she is in, thriving off of the way her chest concave with each passing day. They have not sent another to torture Momo’s broken heart, and while she is relieved that she can continue to love Chaeyoung, she finds herself wishing for another to distract her heart, if only for a brief moment.

She knows, deep down, that she would never fall for anyone as hard as she has for Chaeyoung, and reminds herself of that as she makes the three hundred and sixty-fifth mark on her wall.

-

A shout from the bay causes Momo’s eyes to fly open on the three hundred and eighty-first day.

Momo sits upright in her bed, not allowing herself to get her hopes up should the gods have sent another lost soul for her to helplessly fall in love with. She dresses slowly, the shouts only growing in volume as she does, and takes a deep breath before stepping outside of her home and onto the edge of the cliffside.

A ship sits at the edge of the bay, perfectly intact, as a small boat makes its way towards her shore. Not just any small boat, but the boat the gods send to take away those who wash up on her shore. To take away those she loves.

_Chaeyoung._

Momo runs from her perch down the hill as fast as she can, making it to the beach just as Chaeyoung does as well. Momo observes the shorter woman as she climbs out of the boat with teary eyes. She is still just as beautiful as Momo remembers, her hair falling just past her shoulders now instead of down her back. 

The two stare at each other for a brief moment from across the beach until Chaeyoung speaks.

“I told you I would come back,” the shorter woman smirks, and Momo cannot help but fall to her knees in disbelief. It has been so long since she has heard that voice, she cannot contain her emotions.

Chaeyoung runs across the beach to her, collapsing to her own knees as well as she wraps her arms around Momo’s shoulders, the two clutching each other in a tight embrace as they both laugh and cry simultaneously. Momo pulls back first, cupping Chaeyoung’s cheeks with her hands, the shorter woman allowing her to do so.

“You’re really, truly here,” Momo breathes out with a laugh of disbelief. Chaeyoung smiles, her hand resting atop Momo’s as the other cups Momo’s cheek as well.

“I’m really here,” she smiles, and that is all it takes for Momo to lean forward and press their lips together in a long awaited kiss. Momo’s entire being seems to come together at the feeling of Chaeyoung’s lips against her own, as though she has been made whole again, and a weight like no other lifts from off of her shoulders.

A flash of light bursts from beside them, and Momo pulls away in surprise only to gasp in shock.

_“Hera?”_

_“Jihyo?”_

Momo’s head whips towards Chaeyoung, who is looking at the goddess as if she knows her. She then looks to the goddess, who is looking down at Chaeyoung with a warm smile on her face.

“How do you-“

“I apologize for the intrusion on your lives,” Hera- Jihyo?- speaks with a soft yet commanding voice, demanding the attention of the two women on their knees in front of her. “But I could not bear to see the pain Momo was enduring any longer. And while the gods are supposed to be harsh with their punishments, I could not stand the way Zeus thrived off of your pain like some _sadist_.”

Momo’s brows furrow as she tries to register everything that is happening around her. “I don’t-“

“She had claimed to be a pirate who had sailed all of the world’s seas,” Chaeyoung interrupts her this time. “Jihyo had told me that she knew where this island is. She told me how to find you.”

Momo’s jaw drops in astonishment, looking up at the goddess with wide eyes as the goddess smiles down at her. She cannot believe that one of the gods that had banished her here had decided to help her at all, let alone bring her Chaeyoung back to her.

“Because this mortal has found her way back to you, you have a choice,” Jihyo explains to Momo with her strong voice once again. “You may choose to go with her and leave this island, but in order to do so, you must willingly give up your immortality. Or, you may stay here, but you will lose her forever.”

Chaeyoung looks to Momo nervously, and Momo wants to laugh that Chaeyoung would believe for even a mere moment that she would choose immortality over her. Especially after the suffering she had gone through without Chaeyoung for three hundred and eighty days.

“Take my immortality,” Momo speaks with such conviction she barely believes that the word came from her own mouth. She rises to her feet in front of Jihyo, hand clutched in Chaeyoung’s own, as she repeats herself. “Take my immortality. A never ending life is not with living if it is not beside her.”

Jihyo smiles warmly at her before raising her hand, and Momo gasps as a wisp of golden light is pulled from within her own chest and out of her mouth, resting in Jihyo’s hands once it is pulled from within her. Momo can almost feel how her body begins to age again, and sighs in relief as Chaeyoung wraps her arms around her waist.

“Thank you,” Momo says to the goddess with a broken whisper around the lump in her throat, tears threatening to spill from her eyes once again.

“May you live out the rest of your days in peace and happiness,” Jihyo smiles with a small bow, before disappearing in another burst of light. Momo sighs, her body relaxing in Chaeyoung’s embrace once more.

“It is done,” she smiles down at the shorter girl, whose smile nearly blinds her.

“Come, I cannot wait to show you the world,” Chaeyoung laughs, pulling Momo by their joined hands to the boat. As they row towards the ship, cheers omit from the deck, and Momo’s eyes tear away from Chaeyoung’s to see three women jumping up and down on the ship.

“Don’t mind my friends,” Chaeyoung chuckles, “they are just excited to meet-“

“ _Damn_ Chaeyoung! When you said she was a goddess you weren’t kidding!” One of the women yells from the deck, and Chaeyoung sighs deeply before shouting back, “Keep that mouth of yours shut Nayeon before I tell Jeongyeon!”

Momo cannot help but laugh at their interaction, amazed that for the first time in hundreds of years she is seeing more than one person at a time. The reach the ship quickly, Chaeyoung helping Momo climb to the deck, and the titan is immediately wrapped in three pairs of arms.

“Wh-“

“Welcome aboard! We’re so happy you’re here!”

“Chaeyoung would not stop talking about you.”

“Damn you really are hot-“

“Nayeon!” Three voices ring out, and the black haired woman Momo can now identify as Nayeon pouts as her friends scold her. Momo cannot help but laugh once again.

“Momo, this is Dahyun, Tzuyu, and Nayeon,” Chaeyoung introduces them one by one, each of them smiling or bowing in greeting. “They helped me reach you.”

“Thank you,” Momo speaks honestly, her voice almost breathy with how grateful she is for these women. “Thank you for bringing her back to me.”

“She’s sappy, no wonder you like her,” Nayeon teases Chaeyoung, who merely shoves her as she yells at her to steer the ship. Dahyun and Tzuyu smile at Momo once more before walking to their own posts on the ship, leaving Chaeyoung and Momo alone once more.

“I uh,” Chaeyoung starts, taking Momo’s hand in her own and playing with her fingers. “I’m sorry for making you wait so long.”

Momo smiles as bright as the sun, pulling Chaeyoung by their joined hands so that she can bring their lips together in a warm kiss, a kiss that seals their fates together for the rest of their mortal lives. Chaeyoung giggles into their kiss, which only makes Momo’s heart grow as her smile does.

“I would have waited until the end of time for you,” Momo confesses, the ship sailing away from her island and into the unknown. An unknown she is ready for, so long as Chaeyoung’s hand is in her own.


End file.
